Hamburger presses and other food forming devices are well known in the art. Commercially available hamburger or food presses tend to be low-end hand operated presses with a 1:1 or slightly greater ratio of compression that do not generate sufficient pressure to fully compact meat or food products. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,202,073; 8,029,265; 7,247,011; D621,668; D535,164; D523,707; D377,138; and U.S. Patent Publication Numbers 2012/0269938; 2011/0111104; 2010/0107900 where such presses and food forming devices are disclosed. Several prior art low-cost food presses, including some disclosed in the foregoing patents and patent applications, are configured to produce stuffed burgers, or burgers with ingredients enclosed inside the meat either before or after cooking. More complex commercial grade machines often utilize combinations of gears and mechanical leveraging components, and are designed for the high volume production of meat or food patties. Such machines are usually too expensive and complicated for home use. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,175,417; 7,128,554; 6,932,998; 6,644,953; 5,645,869.
What is needed is a food or hamburger press that is inexpensive, not unduly complicated or elaborate, and that is capable of providing an increased amount of force to a food product.